Thursday 4 October 2012

Juicers and UFO'S



I'll tell you something, People, you very quickly get out of the blogging habit if you let too many days go by without posting! I kept meaning to sit down and get this one started, but had no photos, and such a lot of STUFF nagging away at the back of my mind. This morning I read a very timely post from Lisa at Bobo Bunn, who said she realises she has been writing huge posts and including way too many photos, and each prospective post seems a hurdle if you want to keep up the standard. So she decided not to try. And I thought, what a good idea! So my future posts may be a little shorter and feature fewer piccies. Or they might not. Depends. You know how verbose I can be when I'm on a roll!

Right. Pictured above, is the innards of our little kitchen freezer (there's a bigger one in the garage, with trout and dead game birds languishing away.)  Apart from Jim's ice cream, a spot of pasta, some wholemeal wraps and some frozen fruit, all the other containers are full of juice. Even the one which reads 'apple sauce'. Oh, and two cartons of homemade soup. Oh, and a Ready Meal (I blush, I blush!)

Without getting too much into the boring stuff, I have regular blood tests because I'm on medication for my wickedly underactive thyroid. Earlier this year my GP said my liver markers were a bit raised, which he wasn't too worried about as everything else was fine. I lost a stone in weight over the next 3 months and my re-test was much improved. Then came The Foot situation, followed by The Back situation which between them meant I stopped swimming, was sitting around a lot and frankly, eating cr*p. Weight went back on...with dodgy thyroids you can put on in a week what it has taken months to lose. Without trying.

At Burwell this year I got talking to a friend who has had some liver problems and she spoke to me about non-alcoholic fatty liver syndrome. Bells rang. So when I got home I looked up some names she'd given me and so began researching the subject. I've cut out sugars, refined carbs and most processed foods. And begun juicing. We had a juicer years ago - it lived, as do so many, in the cupboard and seldom came out. We gave it away. As a retirement present Jim bought me a Kenwood Chef Titanium mixer which came with several attachments. Not, however, a juicer. So having looked at some cheapo's and some you'd need a 2nd mortgage to buy, I decided to get the Kenwood juicer, and have been very pleased with it.


That's it next to the steamer. You still have to assemble, dis-assemble, and wash the thing, but it's much easier to do than the old one, and has a wide necked funnel so there is minimal chopping of fruit/veg. And the pulp, dpending what it is, either goes on our very healthy compost heap, or becomes a smoothie or base for a dessert. (Not the kale and celery one, OBVIOUSLY!!)

I already had a book on juicing.


But naturally I went to youtube for further information and came across the English guy who seems to be a bit of a guru..Jason Vale. This led me on to discover the Australian guru Joe Cross, writer of the book/film 'Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead' which I would love to see...the dvd is the wrong region, but the film is releasing in the UK next year. I found his take on the whole juicing thing very interesting and quite inspirational to be honest, though I am not into gurus on the whole! Another name you may be interested in re livers is Dr Sandra Cabot......google these names if it strikes any chords with you.

So the upshot is, I make juices every two to three days, and have 2 a day. I'm not doing a juice fast, but in conjunction with the rubbish I'm not now eating, my spotty face has cleared up, I'm feeling more energetic, am slowly losing a bit of weight and have lost the midriff discomfort I was experiencing. It is not my intention to start writing about health and weight issues (boring) or to become a Juicing Evangelist, but several people have asked me to mention the juice thing so I have. I might add that we eat a mostly wholefoods kind of diet, and have a good proportion of meatless meals, so it has not been a huge change in the kitchen arena for us.

On the TEXTILE front....yeah, I know, it's what this blog is supposed to be about, right? Well, there are a few things bubbling under. I should have done a craft fair last Sunday but the weather was awful and it was to be held outdoors. Wind/rain and textiles do not go together, so Yvonne and I declined this time though we will do the Christmas Fair. I have some Christmas felt tree decorations to make:


And I have two snuggle quilt tops waiting to be layered up and hand quilted.



And two only-just-started quilt tops to be cracking on with...remember these?


This is the basket quilt which requires a heck-of-a-lot of small squares to link the basket blocks.


And this is the FIRST block of the lovely English Medallion Basket quilt which I was desperate to begin over a year ago! I got this amount of work completed while we were in Ireland...not a lot! So a fair amount of textiley stuff needs to be going on Chez Textile Treasury I think. However, we need to planning our next visit to Kiwi-land very soon, so we can get ourselves booked up for the New Year.

Also, on the music front:


The Mollies will be dancing out at the Museum of Rural Life at Gressenhall for Apple Day in a couple of weeks, and I have a few melodeon related events happening over the next couple of months, not forgetting my lessons. So lots of really nice stuff in the offing.....not to mention all the boring bits too! Retirement, eh? Slow down, chill out, kick back, vegetate...........I don't think so!

30 comments:

  1. look forward to seeing you at Gressenhall Lynne - we'll be there making baskets1
    Good Blog - must put more effort into mine - not written a poem for ages.
    So much to do - so little time. I'm just thinking about starting to paint now - Hehe - I wonder what's next??
    I'm also getting a lot of interest in my Norfolk Skies page on FB
    https://www.facebook.com/NorfolkSkies
    Cheers
    Rob

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rob, must pop across and see your baskets.....a very dangerous thing for me to do, I can tell you! Time to paint? You mjst not be doing something properly! And I do love your Norfolk Skies photos, didn't realise they had a whole page to themselves!Lx

      Delete
  2. Your UFO's are so pretty - especially the baskets!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm into baskets, Cynthia...all kinds...hence my remark to Rob, above!

      I'm trying valiently NOT to allow these quilts to remain UFO'S for too long. Lx

      Delete
  3. Well well done you on the health front! I drastically changed my diet, for health, over 2 years ago. I cut out processed foods apart form a couple of sauces. I feel much better for it. I eat Los of fresh veg, salad and fish. Love your Christmas decorations! I must start thinking about Christmas! Ada :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh NO! I didn't mean to bring the (christmas) word up!! Not yet!

      Yes, as I've got older the healthy eating thing becomes more important, but for health reasons rather than vanity. (Too late for that, I fear!!) Lx

      Delete
  4. Love those quilts, especially the basket one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yhanks, Dorothy, I really must get a wriggle on and get down to some serious stitching! Lx

      Delete
  5. What a healthy freezer! For health and drug-related reasons I cannot lose weight, even if practically starving on a thousand calories a day, which left me nauseous, tired, bitchy.... and didn't help with the weight. I have had to accept that I am not going to get down to my preferred weight, the best I can hope for is controlling it, but the steroids are a real so-and-so for weight gain. Maybe I should convert it to muscle and become a Mrs Old Lady Universe!!!!!!!
    Love, love the Christmas tree decs, very pretty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maggie I feel for you, really I do. If you are taking steroids or insulin you are on a hiding to nothing trying to lose weight. Thyroid problems put you in a similar situation.All I'm hoping for at the moment is to look after my liver and hence my pancreas! and minimise the effects of my self-produced insulin response b cutting out the sugar and refined starches.This should help my system but as for losing weight, well, any loss will be small and agonizingly slow, so I'm not thinking of it as weight loss...if you see what I mean. Lx

      Delete
  6. I like the quilts super colours. Thank you for your comment and advice on my post.
    Gillx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Gill, re your textile course, I was always known for my VERY COLOURFUL quilts, so I had a hard time persuading people that I CAN do pale and interesting.... and I suddenly started noticing colour schemes which previously I would have ignored. I really do like your piece. Lx

      Delete
  7. Please don't change the way you blog, I love reading yours and enjoying the photos, I love the one of the melodeon, and your felt Christmas decorations.
    Sue Xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, thanks, Sue. I think my worry about the 'shape' of the blog reflects how I feel about how this year has gone...very differently from how it started out. I was going to do SO MUCH on the textile front! I always seem to be pulling myself up and thinking, right, get this sorted then I can start over......and on it goes! Nothing seems to be achieved. But perhaps, when I look back, a lot has happened this year....or am I just making excuses???? Lx

      Delete
  8. I also let too much time go by between blog posts - partly because I get busy and then too tired to do a blog post, and partly because I've sort of set a standard of lots of varied photos - and it's sometimes hard to keep snapping bits of my life...and then I feel I have nothing to blog about..funnily I used to blog (on an old blog) mainly with writing and very few, if any, photos. Blogging has changed so much though.

    We eat far too much stodge - especially since hubby has taken up bread-making and baking. I am going to have to exercise far more self-control, and let him gobble his makings, or end up looking like a whale. I'd hate the fuss of the juicer though - but I do love salads and fresh fruits so that's no hardship...veggies..hmmm...not so much.

    Lovely quilts - all of them - you are so talented!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Wendz, totally with you on this. There have been so many opportunities lately to take some good snaps and I didn't, whereas I had been quite good about having my camera with me all the time. I love blogging, but I feel the need to illustrate with good photos.

      Yes, what you keep in your cupboards dictates how well you eat. I love to make bread....but at the moment I'm not eating it. Jim is SO good, he has put bread off limits for himself too and we eat really nice crispbreads..especially foreign ones with gorgeous extras on them! Yes, the juicer is a faff, but only every 2-3 days, and I do it literally for my liver! If it was just for a vanity-slim, I'd have given up the first day! Lx

      Delete
  9. Thanks for your lovely comment on my blog again today Lynne. You are so right with the using 2 or 3 colours for the shawl background. That did cross my mind I remember, but I didn't really have much other compatible green yarn and I forgot all about it. I'm so glad you mentioned it though because that could look so lovely and it actually makes me feel enthusiastic about making the shawl again now, which was something I'd been quite put off before! Thank goodness for comments and lovely people who take the time to do so I say!

    Loving the look of your current crafty projects too btw, especially the Christmas ones. I do have a soft spot for Christmas things. Also I agree very much with your friend's idea of blogging becoming a chore when the posts and pictures start to get long and plentiful. It was when I started to think that it's ok to do smaller posts that I started to be able to blog more recently...

    Ok, I've waffled on for ages now, so I'll go. But thanks again!

    Sandra x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandra, a lovely comment, thank you. I think if we as crafts-people can't offer the odd suggestion then what is it all about? Not waffling at all, I love a juicy comment, as I'm sure we all do! Lx.

      Delete
  10. Fascinating about the juices. I was on an almost fruitarian diet, (fruit plus grains plus dairy) for a while due to health issues that needed managing. But I've slipped back to less good habits. Reading posts like this helps to get me back on track, so thanks Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Annie, there is so much conflicting advice out there..even from very respected sources. It can be a bit of a minefield trying to come up with a waya of eating which suits one's own situation/condition. I knew I was borderline glycaemic syndrome just from various signs and symptoms, though my blood -sugar was ok ( the district nurses used to do my finger-prick every now and then at work!) So I knew I had to reduce the insulin response which preventsweight-loss as well as knackering your pancreas if you regularly over stress it. So the answer was to cut out sugars, obviously, and refined carbs which just become sugar when ingested, and also though grains are good for you, I don't overdo them. I don't have a lot of dairy either these days, as a nurtitionist/herbalist friend suggested dairy might not be helping my skin condition. I think she was right, as things have hugely improved.Good oils I still use freely, though not to excess, and tiny amounts of butter say if I make a risotto or to slick over veggies. I don't eat it on a regular basis. I do have to plan ahead, for sure, and the juicing can be a bit of a faff BUT I am feeling so much better for this different way of eating, I hope you have similar experience yourself, go for it! Lx

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Lynne
    I adore your quilts and felted decorations, too beautiful indeed. In fact I was wondering if you might even consider selling me one of your hearts with wings? my email is violetsandvelvet@gmail.com if you fancy sending me an email with your prices and I can email you my address if thats convenient. Sorry, I'm just being a little cheeky :o)
    Great that you have swapped refined carbs for nutrient dense fruits and veg, it's the best thing ever. Just a quick word of caution, be aware of anecdotal versus the best evidence based advice. Sorry that's the scientist in me coming out ! xox Penelope

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Lynne
    I adore your quilts and felted decorations, too beautiful indeed. In fact I was wondering if you might even consider selling me one of your hearts with wings? my email is violetsandvelvet@gmail.com if you fancy sending me an email with your prices and I can email you my address if thats convenient. Sorry, I'm just being a little cheeky :o)
    Great that you have swapped refined carbs for nutrient dense fruits and veg, it's the best thing ever. Just a quick word of caution, be aware of anecdotal versus the best evidence based advice. Sorry that's the scientist in me coming out ! xox Penelope

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great comment, Penelope, so good you sent it twice! (sorry couldn't resist.)

      Yes, sure I will email you re the winged heart, thanks for the interest!

      And of course, I do lots of research, and any anecdotal info I take on board is always that which refers to good evidence...if you see what I mean! Although, orthodox medicine can be faulty too, five years on a low dose of tetracycline for my acne rosacea really wasn't good medical advice, and my liver has probably taken a big hit from this. My new GP was very swift to get me off it I can tell you! But I do take your point. Lx

      Delete
  14. Hi Lynne

    Finally popping by as instead of rushing out on the 7.30 school run I'm on the sofa with one sick girlie. Keep meaning to say how much I appreciate your long friendly comments on my blog. It's hard to edit it down when you've a lot to say isn't it.

    Love the felted decorations and the quilts are looking great, can't believe you have so many on the go. I might even use my day to stitch my blocks together.

    X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Lisa, hope your young daughter is soon over the bug/miseries...though a morning lolling on the sofa together is a Good Thing!
      I do like to leave comments on my fave blogs....no comments and you might as well be singing to an empty room, eh? And I do love the idea of a conversation going on. My blogging problem is never not having something to say...as if! But it's so easy when you've had a bit of a break, or something Big interferes with blogging, to get out of the routine and so the days slip by and your blog post doesn't get written, no photos taken etc etc.You are right, the idea should be not to feel you have to write a novelette!
      I'm not exactly proud of my Unfinished Masterpieces...I should concentrate on one thing at a time. Ah, one of these days......... Lx

      Delete
  15. Meant to ask if you had seen 'Layered, tattered and Stitched' an incredibly interesting looking book by Ruth Rae. All clever stuff... and have you seen Zoe Hillyard's work? Again, clever doesn't really cover it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh sorry, Maggie, should have replied toi this sooner1
      Yes, I have read Ruth's book - not my own copy - and like her work, btu probably not wanting to do all the techie stuff that I did some years ago, nowadays I prefer a quiet, more contemplative way of creating!

      yes, I had a look at Zoe's work - she's a bit good, eh? Hadn't heard of her before, thanks. Lx

      Delete
  16. Your blog post is wonderful and I adore the additions to your cardy. You should be so pleased the holes appeared so that you were inspired to alter it.
    I just love Trieste and listened to the three samplers on their site and I was quite moved after the lively lilt of the second piece to appreciate the contrast with the third one... quite a moving , almost lament of a piece. It must be wonderful for you to be able to play such music.... my limit is a kazoo!!! However, I'm always singing although I no longer sing in a group or a choir.
    Off to Wiltshire tomorrow for the WOYWW crop! Should be fun.
    Lv Jo x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jo, sorry, this went on the wrong post which is why I missed it. Thanks for your comment! I am chuffed about the cardigan and don't in the least bit mind if more holes appear!

      Yes, Triette are fab, so talented and really nice kids too. I am doing all I can to spread the word in the hopes it will sell a few more copies of the cd. Hope you have a good time in Wiltshire! Lx

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

I'd love you to comment, maybe join in the conversation - I always try and reply if I can.Anonymous spammers take note: you will not be published. Genuine posters having difficulty will be accepted. Thanks so much for visiting!